Gaza Sees 'Lethal Combination' Of Hunger, Disease Amid Israel-Hamas War - 93% Starving, Over A Lakh People Sick

(MENAFN- Live Mint) "The World health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that \"an unprecedented 93 per cent of the population\" in war-hit Gaza is facing hunger crisis. The global health body said \"at least one in four household\" is experiencing an \"extreme lack of food and starvation\".Several people in Gaza have also \"resorted to selling off their possessions and other extreme measures to afford a simple meal,\" the WHO added Israel continues its attack on Hamas-ruled Gaza, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) global partnership released new estimates, saying Gaza is facing \"catastrophic levels of food insecurity\", with the risk of famine \"increasing each day\".The horror doesn't end here. The WHO said this \"ravaging\" hunger could lead to an increase in illness across the Strip. Gaza is already experiencing soaring rates of infectious diseases.
Here are some numbers released by the global health body on Thursday:> Over 1,00,000 (a lakh) cases of diarrhoea have been reported since mid-October. Half of these are among young children under the age of five years. This is 25 times what was reported before the Israel-Hamas conflict began.> Over 1,50,000 cases of upper respiratory infection and numerous cases of meningitis, skin rashes, scabies, lice and chickenpox have been reported.> Hepatitis is also suspected, as many people present with the telltale signs of jaundice READ: Israel-Hamas War: 'Will take out Hamas, bring home our hostages', says NetanyahuThe link between hunger and illnessThe WHO pointed put that the“lethal combination of hunger and disease” lead to more deaths in Gaza WHO explained that hunger weakens human body's defences and opens the door to disease. Moreover, it said, malnutrition increases the risk of children dying from illnesses like diarrhoea, pneumonia and measles.\"While a healthy body can more easily fight off these diseases, a wasted and weakened body will struggle,\" it added just children and older people, but pregnant and breastfeeding women are among those severely affected due to hunger and malnutrition in the war-torn Strip.\"Breastfeeding mothers are also at high risk of malnutrition. From 0-6 months of age, a mother's milk is the best and safest food a baby can get. This protects the child from nutritional deficiencies and catching deadly diseases such as diarrhoea, especially when access to safe drinking water is extremely limited,\" the WHO said.\"Mental health issues, on the rise across the population in Gaza, including among women, could further impact breastfeeding rates,\" it added situation becomes worse when there's lack access to life-saving health services and lack of health careAs per the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, there are no fully functioning hospitals in Gaza as of now. It said 23 hospitals are not functioning at all, nine are partially functioning and four are at minimum functioning nearly three months of Israel-Hamas war, about 20,000 people have been killed. Most among the deseased are children and women, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. \"...over 52,000 (and counting) afflicted by life-threatening and -altering injuries,\" he added. Tedros said that ⁠⁠on average, around 300 deaths were reported in a day, while hostilities have raged on.

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